1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a shipping arrangement especially for spent fluorescent lamps, and in particular concerns packaging comprising a container having a plurality of internal cells defined by tubes disposed in a polymer bag, the cells separately carrying individual fluorescent lamps, the container having end pads within the bag for cushioning the ends of the lamps and retaining end pins of the lamps while protecting the bag.
2. Prior Art
Used fluorescent lamps are a potential waste problem in the municipal waste stream because they contain mercury. The mercury content of a standard four-foot (1.22 m), 1.5 inch-diameter (3.8 cm) cool white fluorescent lamp ranges from 27 to 54 mg per lamp. It is possible to specially make lamps of this size with as little as 10 mg of mercury, but mercury is needed to provide the ions that cause the tube to emit light in use. Given the large number of lamps in use, a substantial quantity of mercury is involved. When a fluorescent lamp is broken, 5-10% of its mercury immediately escapes as vapor. The remaining mercury will evaporate and enter the environment if the lamp is disposed in a municipal waste incinerator or can leach out if the lamp is disposed in a landfill, leading to potential pollution of the groundwater.
Mercury can build up in tissues over time and is harmful to the health of humans and wildlife. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering whether to regulate the disposal of spent fluorescent lamps. See, 59 Fed. Reg. 38288 (No. 143 Jul. 27, 1994). The problem is difficult because spent fluorescent lamps are generated in a wide variety of settings, by a large number of individuals, families, businesses and the like, of a diffuse and diverse population, who collectively dispose of significant numbers of fluorescent lamps in the municipal waste stream, where they are easily broken and release their contents. The EPA is presently collecting data to quantify what risks are posed by the mercury in spent lamps, and what actions, if any, are reasonable to protect the environment and the health of the population.
Despite the fact that they are discarded as waste, spent fluorescent lamps are not valueless. They contain valuable recyclable materials. The mercury is one example of material in a spent fluorescent lamp that can be recovered on a profitable basis. Fluorescent lamps also have aluminum end-caps and phosphor coatings on the inside of the glass, both of which can be recycled profitably. In fact, there is an emerging market for spent fluorescent lamps and the component materials thereof.
Apart from loss of mercury in the form of vapor, unbroken lamps are substantially more valuable to the recycler than broken ones, for example because they are easier and safer to process. However, conventional methods of collecting and transporting spent fluorescent lamps are not sufficiently protective of the lamps to minimize or eliminate breakage.
The most common recycling method is to reuse the paperboard box in which the manufacturer originally packed and shipped the fluorescent lamps when new. New lamps are packaged in bulk, for example thirty to a box, separated from each other by supportive packaging material inserted between the lamps to prevent breakage in shipment. The interstitial packaging material functions the same way that an egg carton keeps eggs from touching each other, namely providing shapes complementary to the lamps to cushion and hold the lamps in place. For the most part, the packaging material is disposed between adjacent rows or columns of lamp tubes, but end elements can engage around the ends of the tubes as well, reserving space for the electrical pins that extend from the ends. About twelve separate pieces of this interstitial material are used to pack a box of thirty lamps in a five-by-six array. Each separate piece is about the size of a half dozen egg carton. The tubes are held in position by the interstitial pieces, and vice-versa.
As the new tubes are removed from the box and used, some of the interstitial packaging pieces are often lost, such as the end pieces that engage over the ends of the tubes, which must be removed to withdraw a tube. Insofar as interstitial pieces are provided along the length of the tubes, the arrangement of these pieces is lost when the adjacent tubes are removed. In any event, when it comes time to load the box with spent lamps, the interstitial packaging material may be missing, or at least is no longer arranged to provide an array of parallel tube positions. The user cannot readily regain the arrangement because it depends on the cooperative support of both the tubes and the interstitial packaging.
As a result, the manufacturer's box typically is repacked with spent tubes without the interstitial packaging material. The boxes are usually packed with more or less tubes than originally so that the tubes are either tight and resting laterally against one another or are loose and rattling against one another. The resilience of the box bears inwardly on the lamps in the overpacked boxes so that even when the box is at rest the lamps are under strain. Any shocks to these boxes are applied directly to the lamps. Partially filled boxes allow lamps to crash into one another and the boxes collapse easily when additional boxes are stacked on top. Moreover, the person repacking the box may have little incentive to handle the lamps with care because as far as that person is concerned the lamps are waste. For all these reasons, breakage in packing, handling and shipping is not uncommon.
What is needed is packaging which will overcome the shortcomings of the present methods of collecting and shipping spent lamps.